1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus with au automatic paper feeder.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are known a variety of automatic paper feeders for an image forming apparatus such as a paper feed cassette, a manual paper feed unit, and a multi-sheet inserter. An image forming apparatus having this type of an automatic paper feeder is known in which a paper feed cassette and a multi-sheet inserter are detachably attached to a body of the image forming apparatus (JP-A-2001-2282, paragraph 0020 and FIG. 2). In the image forming apparatus, sheets having a fixed form size are stacked in the paper feed cassette. Sheets having an unfixed form size are stacked in the multi-sheet inserter. Sheets stacked are successively fed to an image forming unit at a timings of operation of the image forming unit, images are formed on the sheets by the image forming unit, and the sheets having images thereon are discharged.
In the image forming apparatus according to the related art, the paper feed cassette and the multi-sheet inserter are attached to different portions of the image forming apparatus body, respectively. Accordingly, even if no multi-sheet inserter is needed, a space of the portion for receiving the multi-sheet inserter must be secured. As a result, the size reduction of the image forming apparatus is hindered. This is a proble.